Flight Test

Well.

In the past, driving a car at least meant going to driving school; now, driving an entire city required figuring things out slowly.

Then again, it made sense—after all, no instructor had ever driven a 'city' before.

However, since there were Kalim script prompts, it wasn't actually that difficult.

As the witches had said, ignition, mana output levels, flight attitude, and direction changes were all marked with levels like 1, 2, 3, 4 or directions like North, South, East, and West.

Even a driving school instructor who had never flown before could easily get the hang of it.

“Boss, we're ready for takeoff.”

After the calibration was complete, the witch in the pilot's seat turned back to look at the highest leader present.

“Take off. Once we reach the target altitude, I will deactivate my talent,” Lan Qingyou nodded.

Though they had been joking around earlier, they were now entering the final trial run phase, and the relaxed atmosphere from before had vanished.

Even the witch who had been leaning over someone else's seat stood up straight, staring at the largest screen in front of the pilot.

“Attention all units, attention all units. The flying city, Eureka, will now begin its first-phase ascent. Please hold on to the handrails nearby or take off and wait in the air.”

“Repeating: the flying city, Eureka, will now begin its first-phase ascent. Please hold on to the handrails nearby or take off and wait in the air.”

After receiving Lan Qingyou's approval, the witch picked up the microphone labeled 'Broadcast Notification' and began the announcement.

Simultaneously, the witches outside immediately sprang into action upon hearing the broadcast, which seemed to emanate from the Perching Giant Tree covering the entire city.

Those at home grabbed nearby wardrobes, while those already holding their magic brooms took off on the spot to wait.

After all, if they were in the air, it wouldn't matter how much the city below shook.

As long as they didn't fly onto the branches of the Perching Giant Tree, which reached dozens or even a hundred meters high.

“Prepare for takeoff!”

With the broadcast finished, Erika no longer hesitated and directly funneled her mana into the control lever.

Although controlling an entire flying city seemed to require a massive amount of mana, the mana the witch input was merely equivalent to a key used for connection.

The actual mana operation relied on the power of the natural mana tides absorbed by the magic circles, with the big-eyed cutie serving as a backup to ensure things didn't fall apart at a critical moment.

That was right.

In some ways, the big-eyed cutie they had captured back then had made the greatest contribution to the flying city.

Lan Qingyou had truly squeezed it to the absolute limit.

However, in Lan Qingyou's view, there were likely even more 'ways to utilize' it.

Especially given the versatility of its cells; they could certainly be used to create other things.

Rumble, rumble...

The thrusters around the perimeter of the flying city lit up simultaneously, their directions shifting downward until they were perfectly vertical.

Then, they began to vent blue magic particles.

Although they were only starting in first gear, the immense inertia caused all the witches living on the city to sway slightly the moment it took off.

But it was only a slight sway.

Everyone quickly stabilized themselves after the brief tremor.

Of course, the sensation of gravity as the ground beneath them rose didn't disappear, so everyone felt it quite vividly.

On the altimeter beside the pilot's seat, the numbers were steadily increasing.

From an initial 10, it went to 30, 50, 70, finally stopping at 100.

This meant the entire flying city had ascended to an altitude of one hundred meters above the current ground level.

Indeed, this wasn't one hundred meters above sea level, but one hundred meters relative to the current terrain.

In other words, the flying city would maintain a height of one hundred meters whether it was over plains, hills, or mountains.

Of course, this altitude was only temporary.

“Target altitude reached. Emergency Response Team, in position.”

“Emergency Response Team ready.”

The so-called Emergency Response Team consisted of witches sitting on magic brooms outside the flying city, ready to save the day at a moment's notice.

Each of them held a large jar of potion about the size of a rice cooker's inner pot.

These were similar in effect to standard Lightness Potions.

However, because they were higher-grade potions, their efficacy was naturally far superior to the standard Lightness Potions.

If anything went wrong after Lan Qingyou deactivated her talent, they would simply need to smash these potions onto the flying city.

It didn't matter where—be it the ground, trees, or houses—as long as it was part of the city.

These items were designed solely to reduce the weight of the entire flying city.

Though, to be fair...

The weight reduction would only last for a brief moment, perhaps one or two seconds.

But for Lan Qingyou, that was enough time to react and reactivate her talent.

“Preparing to deactivate talent.”

Erika gripped the control lever with both hands, her eyes fixed on the various data points on the edges of the main screen, speaking in a formal, commanding tone.

In the cockpit, the pilot's authority was absolute.

It was the same principle as the lead surgeon's authority in an operating room.

There was no question of offense; it was strictly professional.

“Understood. Preparing to deactivate talent.”

Upon being called, Lan Qingyou leaned toward the microphone.

Taking a breath, she began the countdown.

“Starting countdown. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Talent deactivated. Deactivation complete.”

“All units, report status.”

“Power output normal.”

“Altitude normal.”

“Flight attitude normal.”

The witches nearby, now fully in the zone, reported the values they saw one by one.

Until this moment, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, this meant that all their hard work during this period hadn't been in vain.

The flying city had indeed flown, just as its name implied—and it had done so without relying on Lan Qingyou's talent.

“Commencing second test phase. Prepare to climb. Target altitude: three hundred meters.”

“Preparing to climb. Target altitude: three hundred meters.”

As Erika's command was issued once more, everyone's excitement grew.

Originally, Lan Qingyou had planned to keep Eureka at an altitude of about five hundred meters.

But after the Perching Giant Tree became a 'giant tree' in the truest sense, she changed her mind.

Part of it was certainly for safety, but the other part was because of the monsters.

The larger ones were fine; three to five hundred meters was nothing to them.

But for small flying monsters, an altitude of five hundred meters was simply impossible.

Thus, Lan Qingyou had lowered the altitude by nearly half, specifically so that those creatures wishing to live on the Perching Giant Tree could successfully fly there.